Volume 35, Number 3 Spring 2001

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The 2001 ASR preliminary program is now on the website www.sociologyofreligion.com . Persons without website access who want a paper copy may phone or write the Executive Office. It is an exciting program, and I hope you will be able to attend this year’s meeting. Papers, addresses, and authors-meet-critics sessions feature outstanding colleagues from around the world. Now it is time for you to respond by completing your preregistration materials.

Your preregistration entitles you to save money and also is of enormous assistance to us in making adequate plans for the meeting to serve everyone most effectively. Preregistration requirements will be strictly enforced, both in terms of program participation and charges. Try to firm up your plans in the next few days, and send in your materials.

Please note, in particular, the following:

× If you are on the program, you must be a current ASR member. (In the case of co-authored papers, this requirement is met by one of the authors being a member, but note that all co-authors attending the meeting must pay registration fees. )

 

× If you are on the program, you must be preregistered.

 

× The deadline for preregistration is June 15. If mailing, use only first class/air mail to return your preregistration forms.

 

× Those not on the program are also encouraged to preregister. On-site registration fees will be higher for all categories of attendees.

 

× The Women’s Network Breakfast is available only by preregistration.

 

Preregistration forms and hotel reservation forms are part of this mailing. Note that the hotel has a later reservation date than the preregistration date. Don’t confuse the two. Note that you must mail, fax, or phone the hotel directly. Do not send the hotel form to the Executive Office. You are urged to ask for a written confirmation.

Note, too, that you may pay 2002 dues at this time, using the preregistration form, even if you are not attending the meeting.

After a number of years of trying an "official airline" plan to no real advantage, we have dropped that approach. In terms of flying to Anaheim, there are two possibilities for domestic travelers: John Wayne (also called Orange County—or vice versa) and LAX. International travelers will want to come to LAX. (For those who do not travel this way much, LAX is pronounced as three syllables—the names of the three letters L-A-X—not "lax," as in careless or lazy.). Shuttle transportation is available from either airport to our hotel. Preregistrants will receive a discount coupon for the shuttle via return mail. Of course, taxi service is also available. Taxi from LAX will be very expensive.

Those continuing on to SISR will probably want to use LAX as well. And probably you will do best to make separate round-trip reservations from your home to LAX and then from LAX to Mexico City than trying to make a three-point connection. If you are interested in the possibility of group travel from Anaheim to Mexico City (and back), please email the Executive Office as soon as you receive this newsletter. If we take a group flight, we will certainly all have to leave together, probably around noon on the 20th. At issue is whether or not we have to fly back together. Once we know whether there are enough people (10 is a minimum) interested in the group option to make it feasible, we will explore the question of whether or not a single return flight is necessary to obtain a group discount. If we do not hear from you by 15 May, we will not follow through on this.

We are based at the Sheraton Anaheim, an award-winning property within the Sheraton chain, in a semi-resort style. We will basically have the meeting space to ourselves most of the time. The hotel is about a mile from the ASA site, but the hotel will provide transportation, as it has a shuttle fleet that is in continuous operation as a result of the proximity to Disneyland and related attractions. The details of the shuttle service have yet to be worked out, but they are likely to be directly related to how many people stay in our hotel for how long. The ASA Sociology of Religion Section day is Tuesday; so people will need to determine as they make their reservations whether they want to move hotels or take advantage of our rate which is an excellent value against that of ASA. Note the hotel deadline of 16 July. It is later than the preregistration deadline, but only a limited number of rooms are available. If you have difficulty making reservations with the hotel before the deadline, please contact the Executive Office at once (727-844-5990; <swatos @microd.com>). After the deadline, there’s not a lot we can do to help you. We do have a window on either side of our meeting dates, so you can stay on in our hotel for as much of as ASA or Disney as you wish.

Our registration desk will be open Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 8:00 to 3:00; Sunday from 8:00 to noon. Although there is still some flux surrounding the timing of the book exhibit, we should be able to go from noon Friday through Sunday morning, with pick up of purchases from 8:15 to 10:15, and the final sale from 10:15 ’til noon. Doublecheck when you arrive! This year we hope to have an authors’reception at the opening of the book exhibit, especially to honor those whose books are the subject of authors-meet-critics sessions.

The ASR will provide overhead projectors in all of the session rooms. The ASR does not provide other audiovisual equipment. You must either bring your own or make arrangements with the hotel’s a/v service provider. Consult the ASR Executive Office now for contact information for the service provider.

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